I've had hit and miss luck with trying to get refurb OEM Supra parts through big parts chains like Autozone. I tried to get calipers through Autozone and the calipers looked like LS400 calipers, not the Supra units.

The stock TT brakes are a vast improvement over the NA brakes. With good pads, fluid, and SS lines both systems will work fairly well for a couple of stops, but the TT brakes last a lot longer before fading and have much better 'bite' and pedal feel in my experience. Very much worth upgrading to TT calipers.

Honestly, I would recommend hunting down a set of used OEM TT calipers here on the forums, sourcing new rotors and pads, and rebuilding/refinishing the calipers yourself. It's not hard at all.

 

also i've read from the reviews, the stock supra tt brakes are on par with a lot of other big braking system? if not better?

yes and no...first of all, while i've heard of OEM TT brakes performing as well as many BBK's on the street only, i've never really heard of OEM TT brakes OUTperforming any BBK's...i suppose i could be wrong about that though. regardless, i stress "on the street only" b/c that's where the OEM TT brakes will prove themselves to be as worhty as any BBK - during short spurts of hard, but intermittent, braking, where they have ample time to cool off before the next spurt of hard braking. and rightfully so, for Supra BBK's are not designed to stop harder and faster than the OEM brakes - they are designed to resist brake fade much longer than the OEM brakes are. take it to the track/road course on the OEM brakes, and if you're a competent driver, your brakes will last you a few laps before fade sets in...if you're an excellent driver - which i don't pretend to be :lol: - brake fade might set in after just one hot lap...and switching from street pads to track pads will only buy you a little bit more time before the fade sets in. BBK's will allow you to brake later and harder, corner after corner, with minimal or no brake fade. so, while on the streets the OEM brakes may be as good as any BBK, it certainly is NOT the case on the track.

 

Ditto.

 

Autozone DID sell TT calipers for a great price, but they are no longer available. They were an awesome way to go. Unfortunately its not an option any longer.

 

i just got off the phone with a local autozone and they said they can order them within 2 days.

it's $97 with the old cores (i was going to give them back the n/a ones)

 

they're wrong... tell them to order them and see what happens.
i went through the same exact thing.

i hope you prove me wrong, but i've heard the story quite a few times now. give it a shot though, cant hurt... buy 100 if you can, or i will .

 

^ Thank you for pointing that out. Although I agree surface area is essential for BBK's, I just wanted to point out that there are many variables which makes a good brake system good, not just the calipers.

 

The real down part about using NA calipers are the smaller rotors that are used. Although, I haven't had any problems with my NA calipers for roadcourse use (with the proper brake pads matching the tires and proper fluids).

 

You are an exception. I think it is your gutted car and 300+ treadwear tires. I'd like to see if that changes with your new tires.

 

Are the ls400 breaks the same as the tt breaks? if so what whats the part #?

 

The LS400 Brakes are not the same as the TT ones, but they are both 4 pots and bolt on the same location. In addition, you will need to use LS400 rotors and brake pads. The LS400 rotors are slightly smaller than the TT's, but larger than the NA Supra. However, track pads for the LS400 are just a hair more than the NA and TT brake pads.

Curt @ Elmhurst Toyota can give you the parts #, or you can search the Naturally Aspirated forums: http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=420705&highlight=ls400+brake

 

thanxs

 

You can make them work with ducting. They are also very heavy. Most modern aluminum BBK calipers are a few pounds each, stock TT calipers are 18lbs each.

 

+1...the one thing i hate about the OEM calipers despite their excellent street performance is their weight. i picked up a 4-piston Brembo caliper the other day, and the whole thing was far lighter than just the outside half of one of my front calipers.

 

you know where i can get a rebuild kit for the caliper on a TT?
Thanks




Honestly, I would recommend hunting down a set of used OEM TT calipers here on the forums, sourcing new rotors and pads, and rebuilding/refinishing the calipers yourself. It's not hard at all.[/QUOTE]

 

you know where i can get a rebuild kit for the caliper on a TT?
Thanks...

Your favorite Toyota dealer.

For example, Curt at Elmhurst:

Curt,

Need a front tt caliper rebuild kit...

04479-14140 calipr kit list 29.86 cost 22.80 [ does both calipers ]

 

They are heavy but they work well on this 400kw track car running 335 full slicks front and rear. A professional driver took it out for a session and drove it haaaard... he later said the best thing about it was the brakes. (race pads/standard discs/stock 4 pots.)

But the fact it has good ducting and less weight must help a lot as the car next too it running slightly slower destroyed these discs/pads fairly fast. (race pads, standard discs.)
(even with baller TRD calipers.)

 

...the car next too it running slightly slower destroyed these discs/pads fairly fast. (race pads, standard discs.)
(even with baller TRD calipers.)...

It looks like that other car is using a pretty thick wheel spacer. I see you're using overfenders with extra wide wheels and tires but are you running any spacer?

Not to go off into left field, plus I don't really know how much, if any, effect the spacer might have, but I recall reading about cases where a wheel spacer interfered with heat transfer out of the rotor and caused pad/rotor overheating failure.

 

Neither are running spacers, the green ring is obviously just to center the wheel on the hub.. Even with that there is still plenty of wheel contacting the disc center where the studs go through it.

The cooked brakes are from a black street supra, the track car has no problems with stock calipers/discs and race pads and good ducting. Both are friends cars, not mine.

 

I'm totally in agreement with you that good ducting (I have pretty good ducting on mine) and lighter weight (mine's still a fat pig) make a huge difference. Do you know what race pads he was using?

I can see that the green thing is a hubcentric ring, but for some reason the rotor looks different to me. The center "hat" section of the above rotor almost seems like it is a separate piece vs OEM Toyota stock rotors which are more obviously one piece as shown below: ...maybe it's just the way I'm seeing/not seeing it, or maybe it was discolored from high heat and it just looks different to me?

 

By my eyeball measurements, I see the same vane style (mirror images though, since the above pictured is a R side rotor, and the OEM Toyota on on the box is a L side one) the same approximate thickness, the same casting marks in the hub area, the same threaded holes for disc removal, and the same thin line around the 'pillar' area of the hub on both.
I think that thin line around the 'pillar' is giving it the appearance of a spacer on the TRD caliper equipped car, and that's throwing off how you're seeing it.
It definitely looks like a stock TT rotor to me. The TRD calipers are interesting, though - where were those sourced and what pads do they take? Any idea on manufacturer, and did they need adapter brackets to fit on the Supra hub or were they native?

For the brake deterioration on the TRD caliper equipped Supra, I'd suspect a bad pad selection for that sort of high-speed road course driving. You can cool crappy pads all you want, but they'll still start falling apart.

 

Yea, definitely no spacers, I think the center may be painted from factory for some reason which is throwing you off. (would come from Toyota Japan.)

Both cars are running the same pads Hawk pads (HT-10). The white edge on the disc is just from the heat that has been generated.



*edit*

I forgot that the race car is running a twin brake booster setup making the rears to do a lot more braking, they do bugger all with the stock brake bias setup, this is probably better than weight reduction and ducting combined... make the fronts do less work = win.

Better ducting, slotted rotors and titanium brake shims are installed on the black Supra now which should help.

 

I have a bbk for the looks. Fail! Atleast im honest since 99% of cars with bbk don't need them lol.

 

The TRD callipers are native to the JZA80, and if my memory serves me right, they are made by Sumitomo heavy industries, just like our oem 4 pots. The main point of difference is they are monoblock so give less flex under braking.